with a matching shrug, eventually going with the latter. Although I knew the vamps would not have forgotten the fateful evening in Iceland-or, more to the point, my role in it-I figured it couldn’t hurt to emphasize the fact that I was a woman.
“If men insist on being chauvinists,” I muttered to myself as I slipped on the thin shrug and tied it beneath my breasts, adjusting so it exposed a smidgen more cleavage, “then they can’t complain when it’s used against them.”
Julian was waiting outside my door when I emerged. He said nothing, just gestured toward the stairs. I caught him wrinkling his nose, though, as I passed.
“Is something wrong?” I asked, pausing on the landing.
“No. Why do you ask?” He looked surprised at my question.
“You made a face when I walked by you. I’m sorry if you don’t like my perfume. I didn’t use much of it because I know some people are sensitive, but I hate going out without a little dab of something.”
An oddly embarrassed look flitted across his face as he gestured again toward the stairs. “It’s not that. It’s . . . er . . . you are a Beloved.”
“Technically, yes.”
“Has no one told you what that means?” he asked, marching down the stairs beside me.
I met the frankly curious glance he slid my way. “Not really, other than the fact that I evidently gave Kristoff back his soul or something along those lines.”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” he said slowly. I continued down the stairs, grateful we were going down, not up, so I wouldn’t arrive before the all-important council sweaty and out of breath. “Once Joined, a Dark One can’t exist without his Beloved.”
“I hate to doubt you, since you must know your people much better than I do, but I’m pretty much a contradiction to that statement. I haven’t seen Kristoff since the night he got his soul back. So obviously Dark Ones can get along just fine without their womenfolk.”
He didn’t look surprised, just gave a little shake of his head. “You will judge for yourself how well Kristoff has been without you.”
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at him, a sudden stab of fear piercing my heart. “Is something wrong with him? Is he sick?”
Julian just waved toward a hallway. We were on the second floor, at one end of a long hallway that ran the length of the house. “As a Beloved, you must know the mental, physical, and emotional state of the one mated to you.”
I laughed a grim little laugh. Julian’s prim, chiding manner somewhat reassured me that nothing serious was wrong with Kristoff. Surely if he had been injured, someone would have told me? “June Cleaver I’m not. Besides, communication is a two-way street, and thus far Kristoff has refused to venture down that particular avenue.”
“I find that difficult to believe.” Julian paused, his hand on one handle of twin doors. “He could not stop himself if he wanted to, and I can’t imagine why he would want to do so. His state makes it obvious that one or both of you is trying to deceive us. I will warn you not to speak such obvious lies to the council. They take a dim view of people who attempt to mislead them.”
“Lie!” I stopped him as he was about to open the door, anger at being so clearly wronged doing much to drown out my concern and nervousness at the thought of seeing Kristoff again. “Me? I haven’t lied to any of you vampires, and I’m certainly not deceiving anyone. I’m sorry you don’t believe me when I say that Kristoff won’t answer me when I try to talk to him, but it’s the truth. I tried just a couple of days ago, as a matter of fact, and he shut me down quickly enough.”
Julian frowned at me for a moment, his gaze searching my face. I had a feeling he was trying to judge whether or not I spoke the truth.
“Why would he do that?” he finally asked, evidently realizing I was speaking with absolute honesty.
“I have no idea. If he’s saying I’m refusing to talk with him, he’s either delusional or . . . well, he’s lying, but I don’t think that’s very likely. He didn’t seem like the sort of man who lies.”
“He has proven himself a master of deception,” Julian said simply, dumbfounding me as he flung open the twin doors. He indicated the room beyond. “That much has been demonstrated during the last month. The council awaits you.”
It took me a moment to gather my scattered wits, so shaken was I by Julian’s statement. Kristoff, a master of deception? What on earth was he talking about?
I entered the room, my gaze quickly searching it for any signs of the man who haunted my nightly dreams. There were four people standing together, three men and a woman, the latter speaking as I came in.
“. . . might have at least warned me she was coming so I could make her comfortable. Honest to God, Christian, you may be nine hundred years old, but sometimes you act like a caveman! That poor woman is probably as confused as all get-out, and you’re not helping-Oh, hello.”
The woman who was, to my utter amazement, chewing out the very frightening Christian Dante turned and limped over to me with a friendly smile and outstretched hands. “I’m so sorry about this. You’re Pia, aren’t you? I’m Allie, Christian’s wife. You’ll have to forgive him for simply dumping you in the attic like you were a bundle of old laundry. I didn’t have a chance to check your room first to make sure you’re comfortable up there, but I’ll do so just as soon as we’re done here.”
“There’s no need; my room is lovely,” I reassured her, momentarily nonplussed by the fact that her eyes were mismatched-one was very pale grey, almost white, while the other was an odd sort of mottled brown.
Her smile took a wry twist as she gestured toward her eyes. “They’re a bit freaky, aren’t they?”
“They are not freaky in the least,” Christian corrected, frowning at his wife as he moved over to stand next to her. Behind him, the other two men-Sebastian and Rowan-stood silent and watchful. “They are charming and unique.”
She made a face at him before turning back to me. “I tried contacts, but I’m allergic to them or something, so I just have to live with what I have. Josef! No! We do not bite guests!”
I spun around, looking in surprise at the toddler who had crept up behind me. He, too, had eyes that didn’t match, one being green, the other brown, but the difference was not nearly so pronounced as in the woman I assumed was his mother.
Allie scooped up the boy and told him to say hello.
“Hello, Josef,” I said, smiling.
He bared his teeth at me. I was stunned to see that he had fangs.
“No!” the boy said, pointing at me. “Bad!”
“Not bad, pumpkin. She’s a Beloved, like Mommy,” Allie corrected. “I’m so sorry, Pia. He just got his fangs, and we’re in the process of weaning him off mortal food and onto a blood diet. It makes him a bit fractious sometimes, and he tends to want to bite people.”
“Allegra,” Christian said, a warning in his voice as he moved to stand protectively between us, as if I posed some threat.
“Oh, stop it! I don’t for one moment believe anything you lot have been wringing your hands about,” she answered back in a tone that I wouldn’t even dream of taking with the head vampire.
His frown grew darker. “We are Dark Ones! We do not wring our hands!”
“You know what I mean! You guys have your panties in a bunch over nothing.”
Christian made a quick, angry gesture. “Allegra, your irreverence is out of place here.”
Behind him, the two vampires nodded.
“Bah!” She snorted, glaring back at her husband. “I’m not going to let you railroad someone just because it assuages your conscience.”
Christian took a deep breath. I backed up, not wanting to be near him if he exploded. “Your arguments have already been heard, and your presence is therefore not required at this hearing. You may take Josef to the park if the sun has set.”
“Oh, don’t even think of trying to get rid of me, Fang Boy,” she snapped back, handing over the boy to a middle-aged woman who bustled into the room. “Edith, I think he’s hungry. Can you find something for him?”
“Fang Boy!” Christian said, outraged. Rowan snickered. Sebastian gave Christian a sympathetic look. Christian glared at his wife, his hands on his hips. “I have told you before that you are not to refer to me by such names. It is an especially appalling breach when conducted in front of outsiders!”
